Chocolate Espresso Hazelnut Cookies- Recipe Contest Semi Finalist

Ciao everyone!! Today I am so excited to officially announce that I am a semi-finalist in Eggland’s Best “Your Best Recipe” Contest!! My recipe for Chocolate Hazelnut Espresso Cookies was selected. Voting takes place between Sept. 20^th at 12PM until Sept. 30^th 12PM. You can take a look at http://www.egglandsbest.com/yourbestrecipe and on the Eggland's Best "Your Best Recipe" Contest tab on the Eggland's Best Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/egglandsbesteggs/app_251842034899170 - you have to “like” Egglands Best. You will see my recipe under the Dessert Category under Caroline B.

In honor of the contest, I would like to share the original post with you. Thank you again for reading and supporting my site, it really means so much to me.

Il Dolce (Dessert)

I absolutely adore chocolate, nuts and espresso. All together or separately, it makes no difference. So when I was in Rome this past summer and stumbled upon a gelato cafe right around Piazza Navona and saw “Baci Espresso” as a flavor, I knew I was in the right place.  Baci translates to kiss in Italian, but I bet if you think of Baci, you think of those amazing chocolates with the hazelnut center. The gelato had a deep chocolate espresso base with chunks of chocolate and hazelnuts. It was absolutely amazing. Come summer I plan to take out my ice cream maker and try to recreate some of the gelato I had in Italy (including the most intense chocolate gelato I have ever had, called nero fondente.) But, I’m not quite ready for gelato. So until then, I have recreated the taste and made these equally delicious Baci Espresso cookies. While they are not the prettiest cookies, they are certainly pleasing to the palette. They are fudgy, chocolaty and the hazelnuts add a lovely crunchy to an otherwise smooth cookie.

Chocolate Hazelnut Espresso Cookies

10 ounce of dark chocolate

2 Eggland’s Best eggs

½ cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

¼ cup all purpose flour

¼ teaspoon baking powder

2 tablespoons espresso powder

1/8^th teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons unsalted butter.

1 ½ cups of hazelnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Whisk eggs, sugar and vanilla in a small bowl. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, espresso powder and salt together. Stirring frequently, melt butter with chocolate. Whisk in the egg mixture. Stir in the flour and nuts. Scoop rounded tablespoons of batter on baking sheet.

Bake until the surface of the cookie looks dry and the centers are still gooey, around 11-13 minutes. Take out of the oven and let cool. If you don’t eat them all in one sitting, store the leftover cookies in a tightly sealed container.

Buon Appetito!

Chocolate Espresso Molten Cakes

Ciao!! I have some very exciting news to announce on Thursday Sept. 20^th, so please stay turned and be sure to check in on my facebook page for updates. Until then, I have some delicious Chocolate Espresso Molten Cakes to share with you!

I love soft gooey chocolate cakes. You know the kind I’m talking about. The kind where it’s firm on the outside and flows like lava in the center. Does anything taste better? I think not. Plus, these are incredibly easy to make and they look really impressive. These are great to prepare for a party because you can make the batter in advance and let them sit in the refrigerator until you are ready to pop them in the oven so they are nice and warm. This version is gluten free, as it is made with nut flour, so these are perfect for anyone with a gluten allergy. If you do not like the taste of nut flour, you can easily substitute with regular flour or whole wheat.

These are very intense little cakes, so be warned!! I use bittersweet chocolate, but please feel free to use semisweet. I love making these with espresso powder, it just ups the intensity since anything with chocolate and espresso is okay in my book.

I like to serve these with a variety of sauces to top the cakes off.  Raspberry goes with anything chocolate of course, but something I love that’s a little different is a white chocolate mascarpone cream sauce. This sauce couldn’t be any easier; you can use it in place of whipped cream. People will love it!

Chocolate Espresso Molten Cakes

1/2 cup unsalted butter, plus more to butter the molds

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

1 tsp. coffee extract

1/4 cup sugar

¼ teaspoon espresso powder

2 teaspoons hazelnut flour

First, heat your butter and chocolate until the chocolate is completely melted. Mix eggs, yolks, coffee extract, sugar and espresso powder with an electric beater until light and thick.

Pour the egg mixture in with the chocolate mix. Add in the hazelnut flour and beat until combined. Butter four 4 ounce ramekins. Pour the batter into the molds. Preheat your oven to 45 degrees and bake for seven minutes. DO NOT OVER COOK.

You want the center to stay soft and the sides to set. It is a little difficult to tell in the pictures, but you may be able to see that the center is slightly soft since the color directly in the center is different than on the sides. You can either wait for the ramekins to cool and eat directly out of them or you can put the ramekin on a plate and flip it directly onto the plate. 

I would suggest serving with a dollop of fresh whipped cream, which is incredibly easy to make. Put some cream in a bowl and mix with an electric beater until it looks like whipped cream! Or serve with my white chocolate mascarpone cream! Buon Appetito!

White Chocolate Mascarpone Cream

5 ounces of white chocolate

1 cup of whipping cream

7 ounces of mascarpone cheese

1 tsp. vanilla extract

First, chop you chocolate and melt with 1/2 cup whipping cream in a metal bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Remove from over the water and let the chocolate cool to room temperature.

In another medium bowl, whisk 1/2 cup whipping cream, mascarpone cheese and vanilla extract until blended and smooth. Fold melted chocolate into mascarpone. Let me know what you think! Enjoy!! 

Baci Espresso Cookies

For today’s sweet treat, I will be featuring some decadent Baci Espresso cookies!!

Il Dolce (Dessert)

I absolutely adore chocolate, nuts and espresso. All together or separately, it makes no difference. So when I was in Rome this past summer and stumbled upon a gelato cafe right around Piazza Navona and saw “Baci Espresso” as a flavor, I knew I was in the right place.  Baci translates to kiss in Italian, but I bet if you think of Baci, you think of those amazing chocolates with the hazelnut center. The gelato had a deep chocolate espresso base with chunks of chocolate and hazelnuts. It was absolutely amazing. Come summer I plan to take out my ice cream maker and try to recreate some of the gelato I had in Italy (including the most intense chocolate gelato I have ever had, called nero fondente.) But, I’m not quite ready for gelato. So until then, I have recreated the taste and made these equally delicious Baci Espresso cookies. While they are not the prettiest cookies, they are certainly pleasing to the palette. They are fudgy, chocolaty and the hazelnuts add a lovely crunchy to an otherwise smooth cookie.

Baci Espresso Cookies

10 ounce of dark chocolate
2 eggs
½ cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
¼ cup all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons espresso powder
1/8^th teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter.
1 ½ cups of hazelnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Whisk eggs, sugar and vanilla in a small bowl. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, espresso powder and salt together. Stirring frequently, melt butter with chocolate. Whisk in the egg mixture. Stir in the flour and nuts. Scoop rounded tablespoons of batter on baking sheet.

Bake until the surface of the cookie looks dry and the centers are still gooey, around 11-13 minutes. Take out of the oven and let cool. If you don’t eat them all in one sitting, store the leftover cookies in a tightly sealed container.

Buon Appetito!